The Advantages of Renting vs. Buying a Home

Posted on 18/07/2012

To have your own home is something that everybody dreams of. This makes you feel more safe and secure. It gives you the impression that you have achieved something in your life. Unfortunately in today's world most people do not have the resources to buy their own homes. Usually they need bank financing. So they get montages and become slaves to the banks for the rest of their lives. And not to mention the transaction fees when buying, the property taxes, the insurance, the maintenance, etc.  So do you still think that nowadays it is a smart financial move to buy?

Most people think that renting is the equivalent of flushing money down the drain. But financial experts encourage it.  They say that if you make detailed calculations you may find out that to get almost the same thing it can cost you twice much to own than to rent.  Don't you think that this worth considering? So I will try to expose some of the advantages of renting vs. buying.
When renting you can actually afford a more luxury premises with better location than you would ever be able to afford to buy.  Why should you live in a worse place just because you are the owner?

When you rent an apartment or house you do not have to worry about any additional payments such as property tax, homeowner's insurance and so on as they are a responsibility of your landlord. Moreover in many rentals the utility costs are included in the price. That saves you some considerable amount of money at the end of every month, when your resources are usually limited. You do not have to worry for the repairs, as well. In a case of a breakdown, being a renter, all you need to do is to call the landlord and he will take care of everything without bothering you and your personal budget. However, if you are an owner you are responsible for all these both financially and physically. And to finish the financial part of the advantages we can say that when renting you more or less have fixed costs on a monthly basis, which can greatly vary if you own a home due to some sudden repair costs etc.

Renting is a good option, as it makes you far more flexible if you need to eventually relocate. If you find a better job far away for your current location or if just want to move to a better neighborhood you can always change your rental. So when renting you can easily give your life new direction.

and last but not least reason i would like to mention is that there is less or no risk to you when you rent. Nowadays, the market conditions are bad. The jobs are uncertain. So if you have a montage you may end up not being able to pay it and hence lose your house.  Moreover, the economic crisis makes the property market to fluctuate. There is some good possibility for you to lose money if you are forced to sell your home in case of economic downturn. This can ruin your entire life. It is much more secure if you are a tenant, though.

To summarize I can say that compared to owning living in a rented apartment or house is much more easy and secure. You worry for fewer things than you would if you are an owner. You have the freedom to relocate whenever you want regardless the reasons. So despite the commonsense that it is better to own than to rent you should carefully consider the above advantages of renting vs buying before you take your decision.